0
ISLAMABAD, July 17: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali said here on Thursday a breakthrough was likely in government-opposition talks on the Legal Framework Order next week.
Talking to newsmen after inaugurating the Second ECO Ministerial Meeting, the prime minister said: “A breakthrough was likely in the government-opposition negotiations,” and that the two sides would discuss all vital issues when they would formally meet to sort out their differences.
When told that the People’s Party Parliamentarians and the Pakistan Muslim League-N had expressed their reservations about government’s sincerity in this regard, he disagreed with the contention of the two opposition parties.
“I have been going to their houses and discussing things candidly, and even then if somebody doubts our intentions then nothing can be said about it.”
Asked about the attitude of the opposition leaders towards the negotiation process, Mr Jamali said they had shown encouraging response and there was flexibility in their stance as well.
He said his impression about the opposition parties was that they were flexible, and hoped that they would adopt the same attitude in the next week meeting.
He said he had talked to Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on phone and he would be back in Pakistan on July 25.
Asked if President Gen Pervez Musharraf would be included in the talks, the prime minister said that it depended on how things shaped up. If his presence was felt necessary, he added, it would be considered.
SHUJAAT SUMMONED: Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-N Vice-President Syed Kabir Ali Wasti told Dawn that the prime minister had asked PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to reach Islamabad from London to open formal talks with the combined opposition.
He said he made a telephonic contact with the Chaudhry on Thursday and conveyed the prime minister’s message to him.
Mr Wasti said Mr Jamali wanted to improve relations with the opposition by sorting out all contentious issues.
“But the prime minister does not want the opposition to insist on a timeframe for the separation of the offices of the president and the COAS and that this issue should be left to him (Gen Musharraf),” he said.
Sources close to the Chaudhry brothers, however, indicated that the PML-Q president was likely to proceed to the US from the UK to attend the wedding of a very high profile US-based Muslim Leaguer, who is also known for his close friendship with former US president Clinton and his wife Hillary.
